User:Wound theology/Pyrrho

Biography
Pyrrho (fl. 336 BC, during the life of Philip of Macedon) began his life as a painter, only later becoming a philosopher. He was the son of Pleistarchus, and studied under Bryson, student of Cleinomachus, and also Alexander of Chios, student of Metrodorus of Chios. He was influenced by "naked" Indian philosophers (Gymnosophists), especially after witnessing an incident in which an Indian reproached Anaxarchus with the remark that "he would not have been able to teach anyone to be virtuous, while he was attending royal courts." He lived until he was almost ninety.

Anecdotes
Pyrrho would often leave and seek solitude, even to the point of leaving the country. He "avoid[ed] nothing" and took no precautions, completely discounting his own senses. If someone left in the midst of a conversation, he would continue it anyway. Once, when Anaxarchus fell into a ravine, he continued walking by, without offering to or providing help. Anaxarchus praised his commitment to indifference and detatchement. When he was observed speaking to himself, he remarked that he was "practicing to become a good person" (cf. spiritual exericses.)

Philosophy
Pyrrho had "as his goal to eliminate the reality of all things". He introduced inapprehensibility and suspension of judgement to philosophy, stating that "nothing is honorable or base, or just or unjust; likewise he said that in all cases nothing exists in turth, but men do everything on the basis of convention and habit; for each thing is no more this than this."